


Stay With Me

by rosecake



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 15:01:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9330518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosecake/pseuds/rosecake
Summary: Buffy tries to convince Kendra to stay in Sunnydale.  AU where Kendra didn't die in Season 2.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LittleRaven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleRaven/gifts).



> This was written for Tigerlily as a part of the Fandom_Stocking community! I hope you enjoy it!

"Did Giles tell you I got into college?" asked Buffy. 

"He did not," said Kendra. The vampire in front of her exploded into a cloud of dust as her stake went through it. "The last time I was here he did mention that you wanted to continue your education, though. Congratulations!" 

"Yeah," said Buffy, her hands in her pockets. Kendra had come into town a few weeks ago to help stop a death cult from summoning one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, but they'd already dealt with that a few days ago. However, the whole death cult summoning thing meant the town was still flush with demons and vampires from out of town, and so Kendra hadn't made plans to leave yet. Including the one Kendra had just killed they were down ten vampires, which was a lot for one night even by Sunnydale standards. But Kendra was an efficient vampire slaying machine, and Buffy hadn't had to do much except watch her go at it for the past few nights. 

The last time Kendra had been in town was a few months ago, for some hell-dragon thing, and she hadn't stayed very long. Buffy had missed her. 

Buffy watched as Kendra surveyed the graveyard, checking for any additional presence. There was a period where Buffy had watched Kendra closely just to try and figure out a way to copy her slaying moves. She'd given up on that pretty quickly, though, when she realized the things that worked for Kendra weren't the same things that worked for her. 

Now she just watched Kendra because she liked watching Kendra. 

"Have you thought about what you're going to do when you-" Buffy trailed off, because she had been about to ask what Kendra wanted to do after graduation before remembering that it wasn't really something Kendra had to deal with, because it's not like Kendra went to high school in the first place. 

"Yes?" asked Kendra. 

"Uh, reach eighteen, I guess?" asked Buffy. 

Kendra shrugged. "I have my job. I do not think anything will change for me." 

That was more than a little depressing as far as Buffy was concerned, but Kendra didn't seem bothered by it. Still, it wasn't as if she could really imagine Kendra hanging out at UC Sunnydale. She could see her at some ancient European university that looked like something out of a fantasy movie, learning dead languages from a crazy old professor who refused to speak anything more modern than Latin, but not UC Sunnydale. That would be way too normal for a person like Kendra. 

She knew that, but she still had fantasies sometimes about having Kendra as a roommate, refusing to talk to boys at parties and sleeping on the floor because beds were for the weak and indulgent. It seemed like it would be fun. 

"Have you ever thought about just staying here?" asked Buffy. "I mean permanently. Not just stopping by whenever there's something particularly awful trying to come up out of the ground." 

Kendra took her time in responding. "I have thought about it," she said, and Buffy felt a flutter in her heart. "I do not think that the Council would approve, though." 

"I mean, we're on top of a Hellmouth. It's not like you're gonna get more slaying time in anywhere else." 

"Are you worried about balancing your life as student with your life as a Slayer without me around to help?" asked Kendra. 

Buffy nearly tripped over her own feet. "What? No!" 

Kendra looked surprised. "It's fine if you're worried about it. It would be a challenge for anyone. There is a reason the Council generally doesn't let slayers lead a life like yours." 

Buffy twisted a strand of hair around in her fingers. It always made her feel a little weird, going forward with her relatively normal social life while Kendra kept it strictly Slayer. 

"It's not like I just want you around to do all the vampire killing work for me while I live it up in the dorms." Buffy paused, realizing that she _had_ pretty much let Kendra do all the work for the last couple of nights, and promised herself she was going to stake the next vampire that popped up before Kendra could even blink. "You come and go a lot. It would be nice if you were here all the time, just because I like having you around. I... I miss you when you're gone." 

Kendra smiled, and punched her lightly on the arm. That was, based on Buffy's prior experience, the Kendra version of a hug. "I miss you, too," she said. "But it's not really up to me." 

Buffy stood there in the chill of the night air and wondered if she kissed Kendra, would that be enough to convince her to stay? Or would it convince her to avoid Sunnydale for the rest of her life, however long that turned out to be? 

"Why shouldn't it be up to you?" asked Buffy. "The Council doesn't really matter, Kendra. You're allowed to do something just because you want to." 

Kendra frowned, and maybe it was wishful thinking but she looked so close to saying yes. So close, but not quite there yet, and it made Buffy want to scream. "I have an obligation-" 

"Kendra, please," interrupted Buffy. She didn't want to stand there and listen while Kendra talked herself out of it. And, hell, if there was any time to just go for broke, it was probably right then, wasn't it? 

She leaned in and kissed Kendra on the mouth. She kept it quick, because she was nervous and she didn't want to press her luck, but she'd wanted to do it for so long that it was hard to make herself stop. She exhaled heavily as she pulled away. 

"I really want you to stay, Kendra." 

Kendra looked more shocked than anything, and Buffy could feel panic start to edge in around the corners of her consciousness. "I..." started Kendra, but she trailed off, bringing her fingers to her lips for a moment. Her expression softened, and Buffy could feel a surge of hope rush though her. 

"I can't make promises," said Kendra softly. "But I will talk to Zabuto when I go back. About moving here, permanently." 

"That's good," said Buffy. She would go down and knock some sense into Kendra's watcher personally, if she had to, and the whole Council too. She was about to lean in again for another kiss when she felt an unfortunately familiar pricking at the edge of her senses. Kendra's hand was already on her stake, but Buffy placed a hand on hers to stop her from pulling it out. 

"Don't worry," she said. "I've got this one."


End file.
